The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to launch a training programme for food businesses to cater to the needs arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The training for Covid-19 precautions will be imparted through Food Safety Training & Certification (FoSTaC) programme platform, which is aimed at enabling and equipping food businesses to function and reduce the risk of the contagion.

The apex food regulator in a statement here said, “FSSAI has launched a training programme for food businesses under FoSTaC wherein the training will be conducted online through the empanelled training partners. Food businesses can visit www.fostac.fssai.gov.in or connect with the FoSTaC training partners directly for this certification programme.”

Further, the training programme caters to all stakeholders in the food ecosystem comprising of manufacturers, packers, transporters, retailers and food delivery partners and aggregators while it is desired that the agencies, NGOs serving food in places including langar and community kitchens should also get their food handlers trained for Covid-19 precautionary measures, reads the statement by FSSAI.

Experts feel that Covid-19 is posing a serious challenge for food supply chains worldwide. The challenge is to ensure uninterrupted food supply to consumers whilst containing the risk of Covid-19 for the workers, customers and all participants in the food supply chain.

Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs, says, "This step by FSSAI hits the spot in ensuring food safety and hygiene amidst the Covid-19 outbreak. Having trained thousands of food handlers over the past few years, I can assure you that primary food handlers stand at the core when it comes to establishing food safety. Ensuring that they are suitably trained and educated about all the preventive measures is going to guarantee the food industry all the help it needs to mitigate any Covid related challenges."

FSSAI had also earlier issued detailed guidelines for food businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.